The Malay Ṣūfī Glossary: A Study of al-Manhal al-Ṣāfi of Shaykh Dāwūd al-Faṭānī

The Malay Ṣūfī Glossary: A Study of al-Manhal al-Ṣāfi of Shaykh Dāwūd al-Faṭānī is a edition and translation into English by Mohd Zain Abd Rahman of al-Manhal al-Ṣāfi fī Bayān Ramz Ahl al-Ṣūfi by Shaykh Dāwūd al-Faṭānī (d. 1847 C.E.). It is a dictionary of technical terms of the Sufis, and perhaps the earliest dictionary in Malay which served as a major reference in Jawi for the metaphysical and spiritual sciences in this part of the world. The vocabularies contained in it is a testimony where the dissemination of tasawwuf was at its peak. They were derived from the authoritative sources written by the major figures, luminaries, saints, and sages, the representatives of the metaphysical and spiritual sciences in Islam, that is tasawwuf.

This edition and translation is a great contribution to knowledge of the greater tasawwuf tradition in the Malay World. The author has accomplished to bring this particular work of Shaykh Dāwūd al-Faṭānī to see the light of day and he has furnished it with meticulous details of the biography and bibliographic survey of the said scholar. This translation into English of the manuscripts is the first and the brief analysis, with the accompanying Jawi transcription, aids the reader to focus on the content of the text.